Goonhub
03-11-2015, 06:13 AM
I wasn't around for the days of OLD old genetics, so I can't speak to that or how it was in the slightest. I can, however, talk about my recent experiences in genetics.
I like the concept of genetics. I think it's a really cool idea that has a lot of potential. But everyone's always talking about how invisible telekinetic Hulks showed up every round before the genetics nerf, and...well, to be frank, I think that's a load of hyperbole. Even before the nerf, getting Telekinesis OR Hulk were practically adventures in and of themselves due to how rare they were, and getting both was practically unheard of. Superpowered people were much more common, yes, but those superpowers were almost always less overtly powerful things.
Now? I just about never see anyone with genetic superpowers. After my work on the wiki page, there were apparently widespread cuts to the genetic research time, but it still does nothing to alleviate the impracticality of genetic superpower research if you're only going to be able to get injectors as shit's blowing up and the shuttle's getting called. I should say, however, that the art of actually bringing people to the lab and offering to scan them for superpowers right there instead of waiting for injectors has practically been lost to the ages, possibly due to the inherent isolationist culture of genetics and everyone's natural avoidance of the place. Everyone's always complaining about how injectors take forever and a day to research but always forget that you can always just go in the scanner yourself. Not every Geneticist is going to lock you in the scanner forever and scramble your genes to death.
The recent surge of mutations requiring the little letter-puzzle locks is, I think, a fine balance of actual effort vs. waiting. Genetics is still primarily a waiting game, but it's rare that I get the sensation that I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting for a timer to count down. The amount of time it takes to slot together the gene pairs and complete the letter puzzles always ends up being more than the amount of time I would need to wait. Right now, I think it's a nice balance.
The lack of PDA scanning and the thrice-damnable suffocation bug need to be fixed, however. The former was a MASSIVE convenience and probably the one thing that encouraged actual social interaction from Genetics, and the latter makes genetic research needlessly difficult after a certain amount of time. The stability mechanic is, I think, an interesting mechanic and prevents Geneticsts from becoming demigods. Some different numbers might need some tweaking in the future, but the system was an essential balancing component.
I like the concept of genetics. I think it's a really cool idea that has a lot of potential. But everyone's always talking about how invisible telekinetic Hulks showed up every round before the genetics nerf, and...well, to be frank, I think that's a load of hyperbole. Even before the nerf, getting Telekinesis OR Hulk were practically adventures in and of themselves due to how rare they were, and getting both was practically unheard of. Superpowered people were much more common, yes, but those superpowers were almost always less overtly powerful things.
Now? I just about never see anyone with genetic superpowers. After my work on the wiki page, there were apparently widespread cuts to the genetic research time, but it still does nothing to alleviate the impracticality of genetic superpower research if you're only going to be able to get injectors as shit's blowing up and the shuttle's getting called. I should say, however, that the art of actually bringing people to the lab and offering to scan them for superpowers right there instead of waiting for injectors has practically been lost to the ages, possibly due to the inherent isolationist culture of genetics and everyone's natural avoidance of the place. Everyone's always complaining about how injectors take forever and a day to research but always forget that you can always just go in the scanner yourself. Not every Geneticist is going to lock you in the scanner forever and scramble your genes to death.
The recent surge of mutations requiring the little letter-puzzle locks is, I think, a fine balance of actual effort vs. waiting. Genetics is still primarily a waiting game, but it's rare that I get the sensation that I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting for a timer to count down. The amount of time it takes to slot together the gene pairs and complete the letter puzzles always ends up being more than the amount of time I would need to wait. Right now, I think it's a nice balance.
The lack of PDA scanning and the thrice-damnable suffocation bug need to be fixed, however. The former was a MASSIVE convenience and probably the one thing that encouraged actual social interaction from Genetics, and the latter makes genetic research needlessly difficult after a certain amount of time. The stability mechanic is, I think, an interesting mechanic and prevents Geneticsts from becoming demigods. Some different numbers might need some tweaking in the future, but the system was an essential balancing component.